EFFECT OF LOW-TEMPERATURE PLASMA TREATMENT ON COLOR OF WOOL AND NYLON-6 FABRICS DYED WITH NATURAL DYES

In a previous article, we reported that oxygen low temperature plasma treatment of wool fibers increases both the dyeing rate and saturation dye exhaustion of acid dyes, despite increased electronegativity of t he fiber surface with the treatment. In this article, wool and nylon 6 fabrics treated with oxygen, carbon tetrafluoride, and ammonia low te mperature plasmas are dyed with several natural dyes, such as cochinea l, Chinese cork tree, madder, and gromwell. The dyeing rate of the pla sma-treated woof increases considerably with cochineal, Chinese cork t ree, and madder, but not with gromwell. However, the dyeing rate of ny lon 6 with cochineal and Chinese cork tree is not changed by the plasm a pretreatment. Furthermore, plasma-treated wool fabrics dyed with coc hineal and Chinese cork tree have increased brightness compared with u ntreated wool.